Exacerbate

//ɪɡˈzæsɚˌbeɪt// verb

verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To make worse (a problem, bad situation, negative feeling, etc.). transitive

    "Near-synonym: worsen"

  2. 2
    make worse wordnet
  3. 3
    exasperate or irritate wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
aggravateworsenworsenaccelerateacerbateagent provocateur

Example

More examples

"Hot and blustery conditions will exacerbate the risk of fire tomorrow."

Etymology

First attested in 1660; borrowed from Latin exacerbātus, perfect passive participle of Latin exacerbō (“to provoke”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from ex- (“out of; thoroughly”) + acerbō (“to embitter, harshen or worsen”).

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.